Since the U.S. Federal government officially pulled out of the Paris Climate Accord, U.S. cities and subnational actors have stepped up to continue to reduce emissions and stay in line with the agreement targets. This was never more evident than earlier this month at COP 23 where discussions focused on “further, faster ambition together” and how cities are poised to lead in the efforts to address... Read more

MOBILIZE is the annual sustainable transport summit of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), in partnership with the Volvo Research and Educational Foundations (VREF), which brings together urban transport and development practitioners alongside world-class researchers to celebrate best practices and accelerate the implementation of sustainable transport projects. Each... Read more

The Democratic Republic of Congo has the third largest urban population in sub-Saharan Africa (estimated at 43% in 2016) after South Africa and Nigeria. It is expected to grow at a rate of 4.1% per year, which corresponds to an additional 1 million residents moving to cities every year. If this trend continues, the urban population could double in just 15 years. Thus, with a population of 12... Read more

Meerut, Dec 6 (KNN) Whereas municipalities around the world are at the forefront in supporting economic activities in the cities, businesses and urban development bodies (UDBs) work in silos in India adversely impacting quality of life.
Speaking at the first of its kind Conference on ‘Meerut City Development: Issues, Challenges and Way Forward’ organized by Meerut Citizens Forum in Meerut on... Read more

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) have committed to adopt “green growth” policies in urban areas, which are the largest emitters of greenhouse gases (GHG).
Among the adverse effects of GHG is destructive flooding, which has engulfed urban centers in the past years.
In a press conference during the “Urban Resilience and Disaster Risk Management” forum, Ecosystems Research and... Read more

The findings suggest that exposure to air pollution from road traffic in London during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of low birth weight babies born at full term. But traffic related noise seems to have no effect.
The researchers say their findings are applicable to other UK and European cities and call for environmental health policies to improve air quality in urban areas.... Read more

The total number of people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January 2017 was 553,742, a 0.7% year-over-year increase. This is the first increase since the 2010 point-in-time count.
Adobe Stock/Kimberly Reinickhomeless person asking for help
“This year it’s close to 554,000 people. That’s a lot of people. But if you think back 15 years ago, it was about 800,000,” said Dr. Ben... Read more

THE theme of this year’s World Habitat Day (WHD) celebrated recently is “Housing Policies: Affordable Homes”. The objective — to reflect on the state of our towns and cities, and the basic right of all people to have adequate shelter
Since a decade ago, housing has become unaffordable for the majority of the people living in developing countries. More than 1.6 billion people all over the globe... Read more

Last month, breathing the air in Delhi was the equivalent of smoking 50 cigarettes in a day. The toxic air — which reached five times what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality Index considers unhealthy — was largely due to old farming techniques and modern, high-energy urban lifestyles, Vox reported.
Such air quality problems are not limited to Delhi. Cities and towns across... Read more

THE times call for active measures to combat climate change. People have again and again relayed the words: reuse, reduce, recycle. I would like to add—refuse. Refuse to add to the pollution, and refuse to commit unhealthy practices.
The wastes that are collected from the residents, commercials areas, and industrial sites undergo a process. First is the recovery and processing. The collected... Read more